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There are a slew of top stocks to buy this earnings season, analysts say. Of the 245 companies in the S & P 500 that have reported earnings to date, 77.6% reported above analyst expectations, according to LSEG as of Friday. CNBC Pro combed through the latest Wall Street research to find the most well-positioned stocks heading into earnings. They include Utz, Rivian , Roku and VF Corp. Roku Shares of the streaming media company are down 17% over the last three months, but don’t be fooled, Evercore ISI analyst Shweta Khajuria, said earlier this week. The firm added a tactical outperform rating to the name, saying Roku shares are too attractive to ignore. Roku reports earnings on Nov. 1 , and estimates continue to tick higher, she wrote. “We are looking at potential Revenue growth acceleration and meaningful margin expansion in 2024,” the analyst said. Khajuria acknowledged that Roku is a volatile stock that’s very much dependent on the macro environment. However, that doesn’t mean investors should bail on the stock, the analyst said, adding a beat is very likely. In addition, the firm’s ad checks remain positive. “At $60 per share, we see a reasonably attractive entry point in this ‘macro’ stock,” Khajuria said. Utz The end of snacking due to concerns about weight loss drugs is overdone, according to Stephens analyst Jim Salera. The firm upgraded the snack make’s stock to overweight from equal weight earlier this week, saying investors should buy the dip ahead of earnings in early November. “We believe that Utz still has a clear line-of-sight to continued long-term growth based on its under-penetration in many geographies,” Salera wrote. The analyst said the snacking category is holding up well in the face of a deteriorating macro. Further, Salera likes Utz’s product innovation, adding that he thinks consumers are willing to pay slightly more for snacks as inflationary forces take hold. Meanwhile, shares of the company are down 25% over the past three months, making the stock particularly compelling, he said. “We believe the recent pull back in shares creates an attractive entry point for investors and therefore we are upgrading UTZ from Equal-Weight to Overweight,” Salera said. VF Corporation Buy shares of the undervalued retail clothing company, Guggenheim analyst Robert Drbul wrote recently. VF Corp., which is scheduled to report its fiscal second-quarter results on Monday, is just too compelling to ignore, he wrote. The lifestyle and apparel company has a slew of brands, including Timberland and The North Face, which makes the company well diversified in the current environment, Drbul said. The analyst is also bullish on the company’s new management team. Logitech alumnus Bracken Darrell joined VF Corp. as its CEO and president, effective July 17 . He replaced Benno Dorer, who had been the interim CEO since last December. “We believe an industry outsider with a clean slate and fresh perspective, with such an impressive track record as a public company CEO, provides us with optimism on the path forward,” Drbul said. The firm said 2024 is likely to be a year of transition, but Drbul is standing by the stock and so should investors, the analyst advised. “We see significant value in shares of VFC at current levels,” he wrote. Shares are down 38% this year. Roku – Evercore ISI, outperform rating “At $60 per share, we see a reasonably attractive entry point in this ‘macro’ stock. ROKU underperforming despite 2023 estimates ticking up. … We are looking at potential Revenue growth acceleration and meaningful margin expansion in 2024. … Q3 Expectations—we expect a Beat … Based on our Ad checks, we are cautiously optimistic.” Utz – Stephens, overweight rating “The vast majority of snacking categories continue to perform better than the total store and we believe these categories will show resiliency across various economic backdrops. … We believe that Utz still has a clear line-of-sight to continued long-term growth based on its under-penetration in many geographies. … We believe the recent pull back in shares creates an attractive entry point for investors and therefore we are upgrading UTZ from Equal-Weight to Overweight.” VF Corporation – Guggenheim, buy rating “We look forward to hearing insights from newly appointed CEO Bracken Darrell, whose tenure at VF rolled over 3 months as of last week. … We believe an industry outsider with a clean slate and fresh perspective, with such an impressive track record as a public company CEO, provides us with optimism on the path forward. … We see significant value in shares of VFC at current levels.” Rivian – Cantor Fitzgerald, buy rating “We Expect Strong Demand to Continue into 2024. We are upgrading Rivian (RIVN) to Overweight (from Neutral) based on valuation, after the share price has underperformed ~27% in the past month, and is down ~12% YTD. With the stock now trading at $16.17 (after the close on 10/26), and with > 79% upside at this level, we believe this to once again be a good entry point for investors with a long-term investment horizon, and who are comfortable taking on volatility.”
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